The Sterlington Panthers pushed their score all the way to 62 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They suffered a tough 84-62 loss at the hands of Neville. While losing is never fun, Sterlington can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Louisiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 201st, while Neville is ranked 30th).
Despite the loss, Sterlington saw an underclassman step up: Cooper Nelson went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 43 points and 2 assists. Nelson scored a full 69.4% of Sterlington's points, the 11th time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Kylan Bester, who scored five points along with six rebounds.
Neville's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ze'land Young led the charge by scoring 13 points. Those 13 points set a new season-high mark for him. Keishard Jason was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
This is the second loss in a row for Sterlington and nudges their season record down to 8-6. As for Neville, they pushed their record up to 10-3 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Sterlington will play host again and welcome Simsboro, where tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Simsboro has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 786 points over their last 11 contests. Neville will take on Hamilton Christian in a holiday battle at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at. Hamilton Christian is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.
